


Last Second Chance

by sparkinglovingheart



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clinging, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please Don't Hate Me, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Sharing a Bed, Team as Family, This Is STUPID, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Thumb-sucking, Trauma, Why Did I Write This?, because i ruin them, this is bad guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-05-18 00:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5891122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkinglovingheart/pseuds/sparkinglovingheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Thea, what is going on with you lately?” </p><p>She looked confused, “Lots of stuff.” </p><p>“I’ll be more specific. Why have you been…” he dropped his voice, “Acting like a toddler?” </p><p>“I don’t understand.” </p><p>“Thea, you’re sucking your thumb and talking like a little kid! I mean, don’t you think that’s a little strange?” </p><p> </p><p>Also known as the terrible story I wrote where the Lazuras Pit has a new effect on Thea and Oliver gets another chance to know the kid sister he once left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hahahahahahaha  
> Wow, I'm not a good person for writing this. It is so genuinely bad. That being said, I wrote it at like, three in the morning. But still. Bad. And this is all because I'm a sucker for siblings where one's all protective and the other is super cute. 
> 
> Read the tags and if this isn't your cup of tea, skip it. 
> 
> Will divert from Season 4 canon. 
> 
> I don't know what I'm doing. Or what this is. I just know that I'm sorry about it.

Oliver had heard about the calm before the storm before, but right now, it felt like the complete opposite. Like he had come home from six years away on an island to find his sweet baby sister turned into a drug addicted broken mess, then someone who had a physical thirst and need to kill. 

And now, he was watching her turn back time. Thea was changing. 

It started with little things. Her mannerisms became more childish almost overnight. Oliver loved his sister, but he couldn’t fathom why one day she suddenly got so clingy. Or why he walked in on her watching cartoons that were probably meant for four year olds. He didn’t comment on that-hey, maybe it was just a harmless way of de-stressing. And when he accidentally saw her sucking her thumb, which was without a doubt the weirdest thing he’d seen her do in recent memory, he didn’t say anything about it. There was no point in embarrassing her, even if it did strike him as odd. 

It wasn’t until she started _talking_ like a little kid that he couldn’t keep quiet about it.

“You look tired,” he commented after training in the cave one day, “Get enough sleep?” 

“My dreams were scary,” she mumbled, “I wanted you. Can we go play now?” 

He stared at her for a good ten seconds, “I’m sorry, _what?”_

“I want to go play,” she repeated, looking at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Please?”

“Play what exactly?” 

“Tag,” she said decidedly, “You’re it.” 

“I-I can’t. Thea, what is going on with you lately?” 

She looked confused, “Lots of stuff.” 

“I’ll be more specific. Why have you been…” he dropped his voice, “Acting like a toddler?” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Thea, you’re sucking your thumb and talking like a little kid! I mean, don’t you think that’s a little strange?” 

“No,” she crossed her arms and…pouted. She actually pouted, “I’m _not_ strange.” 

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that what you’ve been doing lately is kinda unusual and the last time I saw you acting this way was before I left for six years. You know, when you were a _kid.”_

Thea didn’t look like she’d gotten a word of what he’d said. She just jumped up and tapped him on the shoulder, “You’re it!”

“What?” 

“We’re playing tag! You have to catch me!” she laughed, running off. 

Oliver just stared. 

 

 

It could be a coping mechanism. There was nothing wrong with that. Oliver could deal with coping mechanisms. Hell, he could deal with it if it was just a kink, even though that would probably lead him down a road he really didn’t want to go with his kid sister.

But Thea was acting like nothing had changed at all, even though it definitely had. She was clingy and childish almost all the time now. She sucked her thumb like it was no big deal (he would have thought she’d try to be more discreet about it) and it seemed like she was generally losing the ability to take care of herself. Oliver figured that Laurel would notice. He was just waiting for the moment she’d bring it up when she pulled him aside one day and said, “There’s something weird going on with Thea.” 

“Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed,” he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“She asked if she could sleep with me because of nightmares and at first I didn’t think there was any harm in it, but then she started wanting to do it just because. I don’t want to sound mean but she’s just been acting…kinda immature,” she crossed her arms, “Do you know what it is?”

“No. I’ve tried to figure it out. Every time I try to talk to her about it, she just acts like nothing is different.” 

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened when I brought it up too,” she sighed, “I was wondering if this might be an effect from the Pit.”

Oliver hadn’t considered that-the pit generally seemed to make people murderous and full of rage instead of a bubbly four year old in an adult body. 

Then again, it _had_ been used to keep Ra’s young.

“If it is a side effect,” Laurel said, “Malcolm would know.” 

“Well, I can’t exactly just ask him.” 

“I know, I know. But it seems like the most likely explanation, right?” 

“I don’t know. We’ve never seen this happen with anyone who’s been exposed to the pit before. Why is it happening to her?” 

Laurel shrugged and sighed again, “I wish I knew. Either way, she doesn’t seem to be able to explain it any better than we can, and I have no idea what to do.” 

“What if it’s just a coping mechanism?” 

“She would have told somebody at this point if it was.“

Oliver sat down with his head in his hands, “So you think that this is from the Pit.”

“Well, it’s just a guess, but I think it makes some degree of sense. Can you think of anything else?” 

“No, but I’m not jumping to conclusions. We don’t know for sure. And in the meantime, I guess we need to figure out what to do about her. About…this. Whatever it is.” 

On the other side of the room, they could see Thea laughing as she ran back and forth from one wall to the other. She looked pretty carefree for the first time in a long time, and Oliver was suddenly hit with a dozen memories of chasing her around before he left.

Laurel met his eyes, “Maybe whatever it is isn’t half bad.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Laurel counted the raindrops as best she could. They fell slowly at first, tapping on her window with thunder just barely rolling in the distance, and then it started to come down faster as lightning briefly illuminated her bedroom.

It was terrible timing. She’d just gotten Thea to sleep in her own room that night and if she woke up, she’d definitely get scared and come in. It wasn’t something that bothered her in general, but it was also something they hadn’t discussed and seriously needed to. 

It didn’t take long at all before the door creaked open and she heard, “Laurel? Can I sleep with you, please?” 

She sighed and patted the spot next to her, “Yeah, I guess. C’mere.” 

Thea crawled in next to her and pulled the blankets up to her chin as she snuggled into Laurel’s arms, who sighed, “Sweetie, we need to have a talk.” 

“About what?” 

“About this. About you. Oliver and I think you may be acting differently because of the Lazurus Pit.” 

Thea clung to her tighter, “I’m not different.” 

“You _are._ You just don’t see it. But it’s okay,” she stroked her hair lightly, “We’re worried about you, but it’s okay. You’re basically a little kid now, do you realize that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think about it. Can we get up and play?” 

“You can play tomorrow, right now you need to sleep.”

“Can Oliver play with me?”

“We’ll see.”

She frowned, “That means no.” 

“No, it means we’ll see. I’ll call him, okay? I promise. I just also really want you to know that whatever this is…it’s okay,” her voice steeled a little bit, “You’ve been through a lot and I don’t care if the rest of the team has an issue with it-I _will_ take care of you.” 

Thea looked a little confused, but thanked her anyway.

“You’re welcome. Now get some sleep.” 

“Okay,” she closed her eyes and Laurel actually thought she had drifted off until she suddenly asked in a whisper, “Am I gonna die?” 

Laurel flinched. Worst possible question. 

But she couldn’t let her know that. 

“Not on my watch, you’re not,” she whispered, kissing her forehead, “Nothing’s gonna hurt you.” 

 

 

Sesame Street hadn’t been this annoying when Laurel was five, she was sure of it. But now that she had an actual five year old in her home-well, a five year old in an adult body anyway-it was going to drive her crazy.

“Thea, aren’t you tired of that?” she rubbed her forehead.

“No.” 

“Would you like to do something else?” 

“No,” she was sitting like a statue, completely still and eyes fixated straight ahead. Her mouth barely moved when she spoke. 

“How about I call your brother? Maybe he’ll come over and see how you’re doing.” 

That interested her. She turned to look at Laurel and smiled, “Can we read stories?” 

“Sure you can,” she kissed the top of her head, “Don’t move, okay? I’ll just be in the other room.” 

Thea shrugged and went back to her original trance-like position while Laurel picked up the phone and dialed, “Hey. She wants to see you.” 

“I can do that. Felicity’s busy and I don’t have anything at the moment. Where Malcolm?”

“I haven’t seen him. I don’t really want him around her.” 

“We’ll have to tell him. He could explain this to us more.” 

“Eventually,” she sighed, “Just give it a few more days. I honestly don’t know where he’s been. The point is, you can come over, right?” 

“Yeah. Be right there.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver felt terrible, but a small part of him really did not want to go see Thea. 

“Felicity, I have no idea what to _do_ with her. One minute she’s in her twenties and the next she’s about three.”

“She’s your sister,” Felicity reminded him, “Just treat her the way you used to before you left. It’ll be natural before you know it. Besides, I’ve always thought you had a brothers intuition.” 

“There is no such thing as a brothers intuition.” 

“Sure there is. I just told you, you have it. Anyways, Laurel seems to kinda like the whole situation.”

“It’s Laurel,” he muttered, “And sometimes I feel like she knows Thea better than I do.” 

Felicity frowned, “That’s not true. They’re close, that’s all. And she specifically asked to see you. That means something. So go see your sister, and please, just try to like her for who she is.” 

“I love her,” he sighed, “I don’t want to fuck this up.” 

“Oh, you won’t,” she kissed him, “Now get out of here, I’m busy.” 

 

 

Oliver tried to drive as slowly as possible to Thea and Laurel’s apartment, and when he got there, he put off knocking for a good three minutes. When he finally just sucked it up, Laurel answered the door, “I was starting to wonder where you were.”

“Traffic was bad,” he said hastily, “Where is she?” 

“Watching Sesame Street for like, the billionth time,” she rolled her eyes, “I tried to get her to take a nap because she was awake all night, but that didn’t happen either. She’s excited to see you, though.” 

“Have you heard from Malcolm?”

“He tried calling a few times. I’ll get back to him tonight,” she ushered him in, “Do you think you could keep an eye on her while I run to the store?” 

“You called me to babysit?”

“Get used to it, big brother. Come on, she’s excited to hang out with you.”

Oliver sighed and walked forward as Laurel shut the door. Thea was lying on her stomach in front of the TV, looking totally fixated on it until he cleared his throat, “Hey, Thea.” 

“Brother!” she yelled, jumping up and running to hug him, “Did you come to play with me? Do you want to see my picture I made? Can we go to the park?”

“Yes, yes, and another day. I’m just watching you until Laurel gets back.” 

“She’s gonna come back, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Yes. Why wouldn’t she?” 

“I don’t like it when people don’t come back. You didn’t come back for a really long time and I missed you, and Mommy hasn’t come back yet.”

_Oh, fuck._

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, she was dragging him over to the table where a mess of crayons were strewn across several sheets of paper covered in scribbles.

“I drew the outside!” Thea pointed, “This one’s the sun, and there’s the grass and flowers and birds. Do you see? I saw a bird this morning and I wanted to go see it but Laurel said I’m not ‘lowed outside by myself, so then she said we could go on a walk and we did, and I saw more birds and grass and sky and sun! Did you see the sun today? Did you? Did you?”

Oliver was starting to remember why he used to have a hard time keeping up with her, “As a matter of fact I did. That’s nice that you and Laurel went on a walk.”

“Do you wanna color with me?” she pressed a blue crayon into his hand, “Please?”

“Sure, kid,” he sighed, forcing a smile. Thea didn’t seem to notice his discomfort and started scribbling on another sheet of paper, creating a mess of orange and pink. Oliver was entirely unsure of what to do and just drew a few small circles. Mostly, his eyes focused on her. It was only then that he realized there was music playing-children’s songs. 

So Laurel really was taking this whole thing in stride. 

“I loooove you,” Thea told him after awhile, “Here, you can have this one. What do you want to do now?”

He shrugged, “Your call, Speedy.” 

“Wanna do makeovers?” 

He blanched, “Okay, anything but that.” 

“Awww,” she thought for a moment, “Chase me!”

“What?”

“Chase me, Brother! Please? It’ll be fun!” she tapped his arm, “You’re it!”

Since when was he _“Brother?”_ She hadn’t called him that like a name, even when they were kids.

Thea was running, and he got up to chase after her. Admittedly, it brought back some pretty nice memories. And at least she was having fun. It seemed like it had been forever since he’d seen her so carefree, laughing like she had nothing in the world to worry about. 

Which wasn’t true of course. Thea being a kid didn’t mean her problems had gone away. If anything, they’d increased, and he’d have to deal with it. 

He let her win for awhile and eventually picked her up and swung her, “Gotcha!”

Thea laughed and hugged him tight, “You’re fast! You’re almost as fast as Barry. Can we see him again?”

“Maybe sometime,” he ruffled her hair and smiled in spite of himself. Somehow, Barry seemed like the kind of person who would actually really like Thea when she was like this. 

“I’m home!” Laurel swung the door open, “Were you good for your brother, honey?”

_Honey._

“I was good!” Thea ran up and hugged her, “We drew pictures!”

“You did? I bet you did such a good job,” she kissed the top of her head, “Go wash your hands, I’ll make you lunch. Oliver, you hungry?”

“I was actually thinking that I need to take off.”

Thea’s face fell, “You have to go?”

“I’ll be back,” he reassured her, forcing a smile yet again, “Just have lunch and I’ll see you later, okay?”

“And then we’re going to try the nap thing one more time,” Laurel muttered, “I think if I lie down with her she might relax more. She gets anxious by herself.”

“Yeah,” he said a bit awkwardly, “Well, good luck with that. Bye, guys.” 

“Bye, Brother!” Thea hugged him, “Thanks for playing with me!”

“Anytime, Speedy,” he hugged her back, trying to avoid Laurel’s gaze as best he could, “Anytime.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Laurel made a mental note not to tell Thea when Oliver and Felicity were coming over. It hyped her up way too much.

“Sweetie, please stop jumping everywhere,” she said gently as Thea practically bounced off the walls, “You’ll fall and get hurt. Why are you so excited? You see him every day.” 

“I just _am,”_ Thea finally sat by her feet, “Can he read me a story?” 

“You’ll have to ask, but I’m sure he’ll say yes. Why don’t you go watch cartoons for a little while?”

“Wanna help you,” she stood up, “What are you doing with the knife? Can I play with it?” 

“I’m cooking and no, you are not ever allowed to play with knives,” she made another mental note to lock them away just in case, “But thank you for offering to help, honey.”

Thea just nodded and leaned forward with her chin on her hands as she watched Laurel work. It was almost completely quiet until she spoke up again, “Aunt Laurel? Can you do everything?”

“No, baby,” she laughed a little bit, “Not everything. Why, what did you want me to do?” 

“Bring someone,” she fidgeted, “Bring someone home.”

“Oh?” Laurel furrowed her eyebrows and stopped what she was doing for a minute so she could look the girl in the eye, “Who do you want to come home?” 

Thea looked down, “My mommy. I know you said she was dead and everyone says that, but my brother was and he came back! So maybe she can too!”

Laurel opened her mouth in shock, “Thea, I-” she was cut off by the doorbell and sighed, “We’ll talk about this later.” 

“Is Oliver here?” 

She nodded and went to open the door, “Hey, guys. She’s really excited.” 

Oliver threw a wary look down at Felicity, who only smiled brightly. She hadn’t become very well acquainted with little Thea-she had noticed the changes in her behavior, but she hadn’t really come over to spend any time with her yet. Oliver had only been a few times, but he seemed to be slowly getting used to the idea, actually smiling when Thea ran into his arms, “Hey, Speedy. What are you up to today?”

“Nothing,” she laughed, hugging him tight, “Can you read me a story?”

“As long as it’s not that one about the binge eating caterpillar, then yes.”

Laurel gave him a sharp look, “I actually need to talk to you about something. Thea, why don’t you show Felicity what you were drawing?” 

“Okay!” she grabbed her hand, “C’mon, Lissie. You can draw too, if you want.” 

Laurel waited until they were out of earshot, “Thank you for coming over to see her. I just need to figure out how to get her more interaction with people. It would be so nice if she had someone like…well, like _her_ to play with, but it’s not like this is a normal situation. And she’s been getting better at sleeping but she still wakes up crying and…” she stopped, “I’m rambling.”

“Yeah,” Oliver looked mildly annoyed, “Is there anything else I can do to help with this?”

“Why would you need to help with any of that?”

“Because I’m her brother,” he tried not to snap, “I’m actually related to her by blood and the only thing I’ve been doing for her is to come over for a few hours like we have some visitation thing going on.”

“Oliver, that is not what this is about. Don’t be dramatic.”

“Actually, I think the well being of my little sister is a pretty logical thing to be concerned over.” 

That caused her to stiffen, “You don’t think I can take care of her properly?”

“I know her better.” 

Laurel was about to retort with a sharp, “no you don’t,” but tried to calm herself instead, “Look, this is not what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s about your mother.”

He gave her a strange look, “What? Why?”

“Well, Thea’s been asking me when she’s coming back.” 

The sound of laugher echoing from the other room broke the silence between them, but Oliver still didn’t speak right away, “Why would she ask that?”

“She thinks she can come back! Oliver, she doesn’t understand things like an adult anymore,” she sighed, “And to her, you died and came back, so now she’s got it in her head that Moira can do it too. And I don’t know how to explain to her why she can’t.” 

“You don’t know how to or you don’t want to?”

Another silence. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but he was right. No, she couldn’t bring herself to beak that kind of thing to Thea and crush her heart. 

“I just think that you should tell her. Because Moira was your mother too,” it didn’t sound like such a shitty excuse when she said it fast enough, “She’s more innocent I guess, but she’s not stupid. She’ll understand.” 

“Fine,” he sighed, “I’ll talk to her about it later.”

 

 

Fortunately, Thea did not force Oliver to read about the caterpillar again. 

Unfortunately, that meant he had to go through _Goodnight Moon_ three times in a row.

“Don’t you get bored of listening to the same thing over and over?” he asked her under his breath, knowing that the answer was going to be a vehement, “no.” 

“I love this book over and over!” Thea said, “Can we read it one more time?”

Laurel interjected, “I think it’s time to get you ready for bed. Say goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Brother!” Thea hugged him, “I love you!”

“I love you too,” he breathed a sigh of relief over the fact that it didn’t seem like he would need to have the Moira’s Never Coming Back Talk-for this evening at least.

“Night, Lissie,” Thea hugged Felicity, “See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, baby girl,” she smiled and kissed the top of her head, “Sweet dreams.”

Laurel took Thea’s hand and led her out while Oliver met his fiancee’s eyes, “It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Compared to all the other crap we’ve seen? Not really. She’s actually pretty cute,” she shrugged, “I guess it might be weirder for you. I get that.”

“It’s not that I don’t like her this way. I love her. It’s just alot to take in.” 

“I know. But as far as I can tell, you’re taking it in just fine, at least around her. She adores you,” she leaned over to squeeze his hand, “On that note, take my advice and please don’t compete with Laurel for her.” 

“What?” 

“I figured that out quick.” 

He couldn’t help but smile, “I can’t hide anything from you.”

“Perks of being a genius,” she grinned, “But really, try not to get in a dogfight over your sister. You guys both care about her, and that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? Trust me, I know Thea is not pitting you guys against each other.” 

“Hey,” Laurel stuck her head back in, “She’s asleep already and that is super rare so if you wouldn’t mind being extra, extra quiet, I would really appreciate it.”

“Can I see her?” Oliver stood and spoke in a whisper, “Just to say goodnight one more time before we leave.” 

Laurel gave him a dubious look, but relented and carefully opened the door to Thea’s room. It looked like a completely different place than it had been just a few weeks ago-obviously much of it remained the same, but the nightlight, stuffed animals and crayon drawings taped to the walls made it look much more like a room meant for a toddler. Thea was covered with a blanket that had a picture of the Little Mermaid on it and her thumb was in her mouth. Her other hand was holding onto one of those cups with a top on that were meant for little kids just out of infancy. Oliver couldn’t think of the name.

But he did know that she actually looked really sweet. As quietly as possible, he walked over and kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight, Speedy.” 


	5. Chapter 5

“Aunt Laurel, can I please play outside?” Thea tapped her shoulder. Laurel smiled and swiveled around in her chair to pull the girl into her arms and kiss her cheek, “You need someone to watch you, so just hold on and I’ll come out with you, okay? I actually was going to drop something off for my dad at the station if you wanted to come.”

Quentin hadn’t met little Thea yet, although he did know about her. Laurel had been anxious about bringing her out in public, but there was always so much going on at the police station that there was a low chance a girl acting less than her age would attract too much attention. Part of the anxiousness probably just came from her being a bit more protective of Thea lately. If Damien Darhk had any idea of what a vulnerable and trusting state she was in, he would take full advantage. 

Thea didn’t seem to notice Laurel’s nervousness and ran to get her coat, coming back with it buttoned wrong and on backwards, “Come on, come on!”

She burst out laughing, “Sweetheart, you can’t go out like that.”

Thea looked mildly confused, “Why?” 

“Because it’s backwards,” Laurel grinned as she straightened it and kissed her forehead, “All ready. Go get your shoes on, and don’t put them on backwards too. Or on your hands like last time.” 

“They were my new gloves.” 

“And it was very cute, but I’m afraid your shoes go on your feet,” she pulled her coat on and led Thea out the door by the hand, “Your brother _might_ come over for dinner too.” 

That got her really excited, “Can he play with me? Is Lissie coming?” 

“Yes and maybe,” she kicked herself for not remembering her own rule. 

 

The police station was packed, but Quentin’s office was dead silent other than the sound of him typing on a computer. He smiled as the two of them walked in, “You didn’t tell me you were coming.” 

“Bit of a last minute thing. We thought we’d surprise you with lunch,” Laurel hugged him and handed him a bag, “Because I know you don’t think to eat with all this work.”

He hugged her back despite grumbling, “You attorneys are all the same. Nagging. Is that…?” he dropped his voice and nodded at Thea, who was climbing on one of the chairs. Laurel picked her up and set her in an upright position, “Yes. Can you say hi, sweetie?” 

“Hi!” she smiled, “We brought you sandwiches.”

Quentin cleared his throat, “I appreciate it, kid. Laurel’s been looking after you?” 

“Yeah,” she kicked her feet slightly, “I love Aunt Laurel. Guess who else I love? I’m gonna see him today!” 

“Your-“

“My brother!” she half yelled, “And he’s gonna play with me and Lissie might come and if he stays until it’s time for bed he might read me a story! Aunt Laurel read me one about the moon. Remember, Aunt Laurel?”

She laughed out loud, “Yeah, baby. It was last night. Now we can’t bother Dad for long, he’s probably got stuff to do and so do we.”

“Thanks for the lunch, sweetheart,” Quentin hugged her, “And have fun with your brother, Thea.” 

“Thank you!” she bounced up, “I will! Aunt Laurel, can we go play in the park?”

“It’s raining, sweetie,” she ushered her out the door, “So another day. But we can go home and you need a nap.” 

“I’m not tired!”

Laurel rolled her eyes as she helped her into the car, “You go and go and go all day long and if you don’t take a break you’re going to wear yourself out. But you can watch some TV for awhile and I’ll give you juice.” 

She considered that, “Will you sit with me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course I will, baby. You don’t even have to ask,” Laurel picked up her ringing phone, “Hey. Are you coming tonight?”

“I don’t know,” Oliver sounded distracted, “This campaign is stressing all of us out. Maybe you guys could come over here.” 

“We could do that,” she agreed, making sure Thea was distracted by the sights out the window before asking in a whisper, “Anything on Dahrk?”

“Nope. And you know you’d be the first to know if we found anything out,” he sighed, “How’s Thea?”

“Excited to see you. She played all morning, we dropped off some lunch for my dad, and now I’m going to put her down for a nap. I’ve just been thinking…” she took a deep breath, “If Dahrk finds out-“

“I know. I’ve been worried about that too. Do you think we need to have the don’t talk to strangers discussion?”

“Probably, although he’d take her more forcefully if he needed to and-baby, don’t stick your hand out the window,” she pulled Thea back, “I’ve gotta go, she’s going to become the world’s fussiest toddler if I don’t calm her down. See you at seven?”

“Yeah. See ya,” she could sense the mild discomfort in his voice. Oliver loved little Thea. Laurel being her primary caretaker? Not so much. 

Thea was starting to sniffle a little and Laurel shook her head knowingly, “There it is. You’re tired, huh? C’mon baby girl,” she parked the car and helped her out, “We’ll get you into something more comfortable and then you can relax.” 

“I _am_ relaxed,” she insisted through her tears. 

“I can see that,” she shook her head again as she led her inside and helped her take her coat off, “Do you need my help getting dressed?” 

“No,” she reconsidered, “Yes. Maybe.”

“I’m gonna go with yes,” she smiled a bit and took her into her bedroom, “Arms up, please.”

Thea listened but squirmed so much that it took a good five minutes for Laurel to get her dressed-not that she really cared. They had all the time in the world that day. She wasn’t crying as much as she had been before and relaxed considerably when Laurel handed her her cup and put her in bed, “There you go. You just needed some quiet time. I think it’s good just to have you lie down for a bit. How about I read you a story?” 

“Fish? The rainbow one?” she asked, her voice muffled. 

Laurel nodded and smiled, “That’s a good one. I’ll be right back. Oh, and Thea?” she pressed a kiss to her forehead, “I love you very much.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is...my least favorite chapter so far, but idk.

Oliver was actually pretty sure he was getting the hang of this whole babysitting thing. 

At first he had just imagined Thea was an actual three year old instead of his adult sister just acting like a child, but the more time he spent with her, the easier it became to just take her as she was. Whenever he came over she would immediately come running into his arms, begging him to pick her up and cuddle her or play with her, whatever she felt like doing on that particular day. Right now, she wanted to play in a blanket fort she’d constructed in her room. 

“Aunt Laurel helped me make it,” she said, “And she said I could take my nap here! But at night I have to sleep in my real bed. Unless I get scared. She lets me sleep in her room if I have bad dreams.” 

Oliver frowned and stroked her hair lightly, “I hope you don’t have them too often.” 

“Just sometimes. I had one that you went away and I never saw you again,” her lip trembled at the thought and she curled up on his lap, hiding her face in his shoulder, “It was scary.” 

“That won’t happen,” he promised her, rocking her gently, “I’m not going to leave you, Thea. I love you, and I promise I’ll take care of you. So will Laurel. “

“I love Aunt Laurel,” her voice was a bit muffled and Oliver realized it was because she was sucking her thumb. He positioned Thea so she was still in his lap but allowing him to look at her face better, brushing some hair off her forehead. She really did look like a little kid, wearing just a light pink T-shirt with Hello Kitty on it and her hair in messy pigtails. That, and the fact that she had her thumb in her mouth and was grabbing a fistful of his shirt with the other hand as a way of clinging to him. She pointed to the window, “I know what color the sky is. Blue! And blue is also the color of oceans and stuff. I love oceans. Remember when we went to one?”

He nodded, “I remember.” It was a lackluster answer, but he was still trying to figure out exactly how to talk to her. It seemed to come naturally to Laurel, which bugged the hell out of him-Thea was _his_ little sister. He should be the one who was intuitive about her needs .

“Aunt Laurel said maybe she’ll take me to the beach sometime,” Thea told him, “You should come too! Maybe we’ll see dolphins and stuff. I drew a picture of a dolphin, but he was red. Do you wanna see?” 

Oliver didn’t exactly get the chance to say no, since she was up like a shot and back within moments, holding a messy crayon drawing in her hands, “See? See? And look! I wrote your name in the corner so you know it’s for you.”

“Oh,” he couldn’t help but feel a little bit choked up at that, “That was really nice of you, Thea. I love it. I’m sure Felicity will love it too, when I show her.” 

“Made one for her too. I give it to you, before you go,” she told him, “Did you know I can say the whole alphabet? All the letters. And I know what letter my name starts with. T.” 

“Good job, Speedy,” he smiled and picked her up, “Does that mean you’re a million times smarter than me now?”

“Nu-uh,” she shook her head, “You’re the big brother, so you know everything. And you’re older. I think maybe Barry knows everything too.” 

“Don’t go telling him that,” he rolled his eyes.

“Maybe he can come and play with us sometime. Does he got a little sister?” 

“Not that I’m aware of, but he might be a half decent babysitter,” he set her down on a chair at the kitchen table and handed her the little plastic cup with pink and blue flowers printed on the side, breathing a sigh of relief when she finally popped her thumb out of her mouth. 

“Don’t you think it would be good if you didn’t suck your thumb all the time?” he asked her, pretending to be busy with making a sandwich, “It’s not good for you.” 

She shrugged, “I dunno. I just do it.”

“I know, but you really shouldn’t, Thea. It’s not…” he stopped as he handed a plate to her, realizing that she probably wasn’t going to understand what he was trying to get across very well, “Never mind. Eat your lunch and then you can go play again.” 

“I wanna play mermaid!” she half yelled, “Can I?”

“Laurel gives you a bath, doesn’t she? You can play mermaid then.”

“Awww,” she looked disappointed, but didn’t dwell on it for too long, “Can I play princess?”

“Yes, as long as you-” 

“I’m gonna be Belle! She’s my most favorite! Who’s your favorite?”

Oliver took a long sip of water that he really didn’t need, “I don’t have one.” 

Thea gasped, “You gotta have a favorite! You have to! Wait,” her eyes widened, “I know who your favorite is! Merida!”

“Who?”

“You’re Merida!” she yelled, jumping out of her chair and dragging him to her room by the hand, “Come on, let’s go play!”

He groaned. Oliver wasn’t familiar with this Merida person, but he had the feeling that he was going to get to know her a lot more than he wanted to. 

 

It was like Thea was a never-ending ball of energy. She never got bored for more than a minute, she literally bounced off the walls and ended up making Oliver chase her for almost forty minutes before Laurel got home,who just leaned against a wall, grinning as she watched them before Thea noticed her and ran into her arms, “Aunt Laurel!”

“Hey, sweetie,” she kissed the top of her head, “Are you wearing your brother out?”

“He played lot of games with me and I made him a picture! And I made Lissie one too.” 

“Oh honey, that was so nice of you,” she said, before looking up to smile at Oliver, “She’s no trouble, is she?” 

“I think I should be asking you that,” he shoved his hands into his pockets, “I need to go. I’ll see you later. Bye, Speedy,” he kissed her forehead, “I’ll see you soon.” 

“Bye, Ollie!” she blew him a kiss, “Do we get to play again soon?”

“Soon,” he promised her before closing the door, “I promise.” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally decided to update this. I know, I know. It's been too long. Bad author is bad. 
> 
> The commenter who encouraged me to keep going with this fic suggested adding in Roy, so here you go, lovely reviewer! Thanks so much for your support. If there's anything else you guys would like to see in this verse, let me know.   
> You can check [here](https://a-star-fell-out-of-heaven.tumblr.com/about) for info on what I'm willing to write and not write. 
> 
> Important Note:
> 
> I didn't see the last season of Arrow. THIS FIC IS NOT CANON COMPLIANT. Just so everyone knows. Canon is dead.

The journey to Star City was a bit of a hike, but Roy figured it would be worth it. After having been away for so long, he was ready to go back. Even if it was just for a visit, it would be good to see everyone. 

It would be good to see Thea most of all. 

Roy considered calling to let her know that he was coming, but decided against it. It might be kind of fun to surprise her. Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed Oliver’s number while he waited in a traffic jam on the freeway. In the distance, he could see the shining buildings of the city, arching up into a bright blue sky. 

He’d never really imagined anticipating returning to Star City this much, but people _did_ say that absence made the heart grow fonder. 

Oliver picked up after a few rings. “Hello?” 

“Hey. It’s me.”

The other end went quiet for a few seconds. “Roy? Roy Harper?”

“The one and only,” he grinned, “How’ve you been?”

“Uh…” Oliver sounded distracted, nervous. “Busy. Is everything okay? You’re not in trouble, are you? Do you need me to-“

“Everything’s fine,” Roy interrupted. “Really good, in fact. I’ve been traveling and…just getting some time to focus on myself, I guess. It’s been good. But I’m actually coming back to the city.” 

“Oh.” His voice was tight. 

“And I was wondering if you wanted to catch up. You know, all of us. Old times sake and all that crap. Are you busy? I know it’s last minute-” 

“No, no, no,” Oliver said hurriedly, “Uh, yeah. We can grab a drink. How far away are you?” 

“Probably about forty minutes out of the city limits. I’m stuck in traffic, but I should make it there in about an hour.” 

“I’ll text you the address of the place. Give it an hour and a half?” 

“That sounds good.” Traffic was moving forward a little bit more now. “Oh, and I was actually kinda hoping to surprise Thea, so do you mind not telling her that I’m here?” 

It went quiet again. Roy was starting to get an uneasy feeling. Something about Oliver seemed off. 

“She’s out of town,” Oliver said eventually, “Sorry.” 

“Oh,” Roy felt a small pang in his chest. “Vacation?”

“Yep. A long vacation.” He took a deep breath, “I’ll see you soon.” 

 

 

Laurel was exhausted. Thea had never-ending energy. From the moment she’d gotten up that morning she’d moved between almost cutting her own hair to running around and playing tag with imaginary friends to jumping on the bed. Laurel had barely gotten her to eat lunch before she was up again, running around and knocking over just about everything in her path. Finally, Laurel had managed to get her to sit down with her sippy cup and an episode of Barney, which only seemed halfway worth it. She was getting really tired of that purple dinosaur. 

Still, it brought her a few moments of not having to be running around the place. 

“You’re gonna drive me crazy,” she mumbled, rubbing her forehead. Parenting was hard. 

Was that what she was doing? Parenting? 

She wasn’t _Mom_ to Thea, or anything like it. She was Auntie Laurel. But no matter what title she was saddled with, she definitely had all the responsibilities of a parent. She was the one who got her dressed, made sure she ate, watched her all day long, put her to bed at night, dealt with nighttime accidents when they happened. She was the one who was doing all the work. 

Laurel tried not to feel resentful of Oliver not being super involved. After all, having your grown sister suddenly acting like a toddler because of a magical pit had to be a hard thing to wrap your mind around. But _still._ Would it kill him to offer to watch her every now and then? Couldn’t he take her for just one night so she could have some time to herself?

Laurel adored Thea. She loved taking care of her. But she needed a break. 

“Sweetie,” she called, “After you finish that episode, we’re gonna go to the store, okay? There’s a few things I need.” 

“Can I get ice cream?”

“You can get ice cream if you’re a _very_ good girl,” Laurel promised, “That means you have to stay with me and use your inside voice. Can you do that?”

“Uh-huh! I can use my inside voice! And my outside voice!”

“I know,” she winced, “You mind lowering it a couple decibels?” 

“Outside voices are more fun!” Thea hollered, jumping up again and running around with her arms outstretched, “Guess what I am? An airplane!”

“I can see that.” Laurel stood up. “I’m gonna go grab my purse, okay? Do you need to go potty?”

She shook her head. “I can put my shoes on all by myself!” 

“That’s great. Go get them on, and we’ll be get going.” Laurel went to grab her bag and sent her father a quick, “hope you’re having a good day,” text before going to meet Thea at the front door. She immediately had to resist the urge to laugh. “Honey, your shoes go on your feet, not your head.”

“I’m balancing them.” 

“I know, but you need your shoes on. Come on, sit down and I’ll do it for you. It’s okay if you need some help.” Thea still tried to do a lot on her own, even if she just…couldn’t. 

“We’re gonna get ice cream,” she sang, “I can’t wait.” 

“We can if you behave,” Laurel reminded her, “If you don’t, you’re not getting anything but a timeout.” 

“O _kay,”_ she wriggled impatiently, “Can we go now?” 

“Yep. All done,” Laurel stood. “Let’s go.” 

 

Roy was positive something was off about Oliver. He just wasn’t sure what. 

Sure, the guy seemed pretty happy to see him. He immediately steered the conversation towards what Roy had been doing-where he had been, how he was, if he was going to be staying for long. But as soon as Roy started asking about things at home, Oliver immediately tensed up. 

“How is everyone? How’s Thea? Kinda sucks that I missed her.” 

“She’s fine,” Oliver said quickly. “Extremely busy.”

“With?”

He shrugged. “You know. This and that. Seems like _you’ve_ been really busy.” 

“I-yeah,” Roy shook his head, “Oliver, is everything okay? Did something happen?” 

He drew in a sharp breath. “No. I told you, Thea’s fine.”

“Then why do you have that freaked out look on your face? You are really easy to read without that mask, you know.” 

Oliver glowered at him. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Roy. Thea is just doing her own thing right now. I told you, she’s not even in town.” 

“If she met someone else, it’s not a big deal.” 

“There isn’t anyone else. I told you, everything’s _fine._ ” He seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as Roy. “Look, forget about that for now. You have a place to stay?”

“I’ll just be in a motel until it’s time for me to go. Money’s been pretty good. I managed to get a few good jobs here and there.” 

“Nothing illegal, right?” 

“Debatable,” Roy grinned at him, “It was mostly legal.” 

“Okay, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. You know I’d offer, but…we’re-we’re getting some work done on the place.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he shrugged, “I’m not holding you up from anything, am I?”

Oliver checked his watch. “I actually should be getting back. Where’s your motel?”

“Couple blocks down.” 

“I’ll go down with you. It really is good to see you, Roy.” Now he was starting to look as if he felt slightly guilty. 

“Hey,” Roy stood up and offered him a smile. “It’s good to see you too. Sorry for dropping in so suddenly.” 

“Don’t be. I’m glad you’re here. Hang on, I’ll get the check.” 

Roy nodded and went to stand by the entrance, glancing out the glass door. It was nice to be back somewhere familiar. 

Just before he was going to glance away, traffic in the street moved to reveal the people standing on the other side. And Roy felt his heart stand still. 

No way. Oliver said she was out of town. Had she come back early? 

“Ready to go?” Oliver came up behind him. “Roy?”

“I thought you said Thea was out of town.” 

“She is.” 

“No, she’s across the street,” he pointed. 

Oliver craned his neck to look as color slowly drained from his face. “Roy. Look. You can’t-“

Ignoring him, Roy pushed the door open and walked into the sunlight. Oliver cursed loudly and nearly tripped in a panic before running after Roy across the street. Roy barely took notice. “Thea!”

She was sitting in a plastic chair next to Laurel, ice cream smeared on her face. Roy paused in confusion. That was definitely unlike her. 

There was something different about her. 

“Roy!” Oliver caught up to him, “Listen to me, _please.”_

“Oliver!” Thea shrieked in excitement, jumping up and running to hug him, “Guess what? I was a really good girl at the store and Auntie Laurel got me ice cream!”

“I-I see that.” Oliver looked completely panicked and so did Laurel, who was just sitting in her chair, looking totally unsure of what to do. Roy stared.

“Thea?” 

She turned to look at him. “You came back! Hi! Hi, hi, hi-“

“That’s enough hellos,” Oliver said. His voice was strained, and so was his face. 

“I missed you so much,” Roy stammered out, “I-how are you? I thought you were out of town.”

“Nu-uh,” she shook her head, “We went to the store and got stuff and I was a good girl and I got ice cream. And then we’re gonna go home and play some more! Do you want to come play with me?” 

“Thea, baby, we need to go,” Laurel said. She got up and steered the girl away. “I’ll…call you later, Oliver.” 

“Yeah,” he said weakly. “You do that.” 

Roy didn’t do anything but stare, completely frozen, as Laurel hauled his ex off. When they were gone, he turned to Oliver, his voice shaking. 

“What the _fuck_ was that?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flames will be deleted. Thanks for reading! Drop me a note before you go?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm iffy on continuing, but I'm leaving it open in case I do want to. I know, this was short and terrible. I'll probably change the title too.


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